


Powerless Hakurei Tales 08: Imperishable Night

by Carmichael_Micaalus



Series: Powerless Hakurei Tales [4]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 06:47:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15724137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmichael_Micaalus/pseuds/Carmichael_Micaalus
Summary: Someone replaced the moon with a cheap replica!  Creating an Endless Night, Marisa and Reimu head out to find the missing moon!  What manner of lunatics will they encounter in their search?!





	Powerless Hakurei Tales 08: Imperishable Night

Imperishable Night

 

“This… is really, _really_ scary, Marisa…”

The magician had a hard time arguing with her sister as they flew over where the town should have been.  While they were not expecting much in the way of activity so late at night, there were no signs of civilization at all.  It was as if the town had never formed in the first place.

“I know I didn’t take a wrong turn…” Marisa mumbled to herself as she looked at the stars.

As she stared at the constellations, her eyes were drawn to the moon, and the thin slice removed from it.  While neither Marisa nor Reimu had noticed anything odd about the moon at first, Mima was rather concerned about it and sent the two out to find what they could.  Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary at first, only a few minor youkai being rambunctious, until they came across the town no longer existing.

“Just… keep your eyes peeled; if the moon is wonky, it may not be the only thing in the sky that’s off.”  The magician looked at her special pocket watch; her master had taught her how to freeze the time of night to allow them to find out what was happening, but it could only hold for so long.

Reimu pointed below; the two could see movement coming towards them.  Igniting a flare, Marisa tossed it down to let the explosion of light reveal who was coming towards them.

“Oh, it’s Miss Keine!”  The shrine maiden smiled and waved as the stern-faced woman flew towards them.  She brushed her light blue hair behind an ear as she arrived at their level. “Hi Miss Keine!  How are you doing?”

“Who- oh, Reimu.”  Keine sighed as she recognized the two.  “Still hanging out with your thieving friend, I see…”

Ignoring the quip, Marisa squinted at her for a moment.  “Ah, the schoolmarm…” The magician nodded to herself as realized who it was.  While she oftentimes accompanied Reimu into town, Marisa had a tendency to keep her head low while Reimu talked to people.  The blue-haired half-youkai was known for running the local school and keeping the town safe from immediate threats. “So I was going in the right direction, awesome.”  She cleared her throat. “What’cha doin’ out here, Keine?”

“ _Defending_ _the town_ , as is my duty.”  The teacher responded curtly.  “What are y-”

“Yeeeaaahhh…”  The magician interrupted her as she glanced about.  “About that. Where’s the town?”

The defender let out a tired sigh as she gripped her temples.  “I hid it away when I noticed the night start to stretch on for far longer than it should.  I think it’s safe to say that y-”

“How’d you do that?”

Keine gave Marisa a dark look.  Reimu tugged on her shoulder.

“Marisa, it’s not nice to interrupt…”

“Sorry, sorry…”  She held out a hand to the school teacher and smiled.  “Anyway, I think you were about to accuse us of something…?  Am I right? I think that’s where you left off.”

She shook her head and sighed.  “I can’t believe Gensokyo relies on you two…”

Marisa arched an eyebrow.  “Hey, insult me all you want, but leave Reimu out of it.”

“U-um!  Miss Keine!”  Reimu called out, trying to get their conversation back on track.  “We’re trying to figure out what happened with the moon! Do you know anything about what happened to it?”

“The moon?”  The defender frowned at her.

“Y-yes.  Auntie Mima noticed it’s missing a sliver; it worried her.”  Reimu bit her lip and thought for a moment. “A-and given that’s it’s supposed to be the Harvest Moon, but you’re… um… still ‘blue’, I think she’s right on it being not normal.”

“Oh right!”  Marisa grinned.  “You’re a were-cow!”

“T-that’s ‘hakutaku’, Marisa…” Reimu corrected her.

“You know what?” Keine sighed as she pulled out a spell card, “I’ll sort you out after I sort you out…”

Marisa grinned as tossed her focus up in the air and caught it.  “Fine by me!”

 

“At any rate…” Marisa started as Reimu patched Keine up, “what did you do to the town, and what do you know about the moon?”

“I changed the history of the town,” Keine explained, holding her arm out for the shrine maiden, “I simply made it as if humans never settled here.”

“How… does that work, exactly?”

The defender switched arms.  “I think a better question is:  would you understand? Or perhaps:  Do you _even care?_ ”

“Mm… fair, fair…”  The magician nodded.  “Arright, the other question then.”

“Hmph.  If it’s something with the moon, it’s probably caused by those in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.”

“Don’t know anyone in there; how about you, Reimu?”

“N-no, I don’t like being lost.”  She lowered Keine’s arm as she finished patching it.  “I saw your leg get grazed, let me see that…”

“Well!  A forest known for losing people; sounds like a good place to go in the middle of the night!  Come on, Reimu.”

“J-just a minute!”  She rubbed some healing salve onto the defender.  “If something follows behind us, she’ll need to be ready for it to keep the town safe!”

“She’s half-youkai, she’ll heal quickly!”

“Well, she’d heal even quicker if you didn’t hurt her so much!”

Marisa buried her face in her hands and let out a groan as her sister continued with her task.

 

* * *

 

While both of them _had_ been in the Bamboo Forest before, neither of them had gone in far enough to lose sight of the town, and never at night.  They knew they could simply fly up if they truly got lost within, but both were well aware there could easily be magics which make such things difficult, if not impossible.  However, with their only clue leading them to one of their unexplored areas of Gensokyo, the two followed the path inside to find the source of the incident.

As Marisa fought off waves of faeries and other trouble makers, Reimu could pick up the sounds of others fighting within the forest as well.  Following her sister’s hearing, the magician soon found herself hearing battles as well.

“I think we’re getting closer here…” Marisa whispered as they approached a small clearing.  “Gettin’ hard to see, though.”

“Allow me to help you with that.”  A voice called out. Up ahead, an orb of light appeared in the hand of a tall blonde woman.  The two recognized their puppeteer friend. Next to Alice, a gap in spacetime opened, revealing the sage youkai of Gensokyo.

“Ah, it’s you two…” Marisa nodded.

“Indeed…” Yukari smiled.  “Your instincts were right after all, Alice.  And here I thought you wouldn’t be able to find them in here.”

“Something about the forest plays merry hell with their locations,” Alice acknowledged, glancing at her compatriot, “but I’m familiar with their patterns… and their magics.”

“Yes-yes-yes, very smart, very sneaky.”  The human magician waved her hand dismissively.

“Good evening, you two!”  Reimu waved happily. “Have you found out anything about this incident yet?”

“Just that only the youkai have really noticed what’s happened to the moon.”  The puppeteer smiled. “We’re still trying to ascertain where the problem is originating from.”

“Miss Keine said it was probably someone in here!”  The shrine maiden wrapped her arms around Marisa’s shoulders and pulled herself up.  “She said there’s people that live in here that came from the moon!”

Yukari’s eye twitched.  “Lunarians.”

Alice glanced at her.  “If they’re in Gensokyo, does that mean they ran from the moon?”

Yukari sighed.  “Possibly; they could also be an advance force, looking to invade.”

“Had some bad luck with crazy moon people, have you?”  Marisa asked, noticing Yukari’s agitated state. The sage shook her head and sighed.

“They’re an unsavory lot,” she answered, “the rest of the story can wait for another time.”

“At any rate, we need to find the source of whatever the trouble is, but I don’t have a signal or anything to try and trace.”  Alice glanced back and forth between Marisa and Yukari. “I’ve been using my dolls to further expand my senses, but…”

As the group talked, Reimu listened to the surrounding sounds.  Off in the distance, she could hear faint chatter as the sound of fauna disappeared.  Flickers of light caught her attention; the shrine maiden tugged on Marisa’s sleeve.

“-we don’t have a- what is it?”

“I think there’s more people over that way.”  Reimu motioned. The three grew quiet as they stared in the indicated direction.

“...!”

“...?”

“...I hear something, but I can’t make out the words.”  Alice nodded. “Ah, danmaku flashes.”

With no other leads, the four quietly moved towards the sound.  After a few minutes of travel, the noise of combat became easier to hear.

“Why don’t you go back to the afterlife, you miserable shit?!”

“Why don’t I send you there, instead?”

“Is that-?” Alice started to whisper.

“It sounds like Lady Remilia and Lady Yuyuko…”  The shrine maiden murmured, looking worried.

“Ah, yep-” Marisa stopped everyone and pointed, “look over there.”

Through some of the bamboo the group could see the princess of the dead clashing with the self-proclaimed queen of the night.  As Yuyuko struggled to hold back Remilia’s spear with her fan, both Sakuya and Youmu stood to the side, their shoulders slumped.  They watched their leaders shout and scream obscenities at one another, both clearly uncomfortable with what was unfolding before them.

Reimu’s frown of worry turned into a smile of glee as she watched the two silver-haired servants; they sheathed their weapons as they whispered to one another, holding hands.  Sakuya pulled out her pocket watch before the two disappeared. The two followerless leaders continued their battle, unaware of their back-up no longer backing them up.

“I told you they were going to get together!”  Reimu whispered to her sister.  Marisa rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Yes, yes, you were right…”  She pat the shrine maiden on the head.

“Well…” Yukari pulled back as the fight raged on, “I think it’s safe that will solve itself in due time.  Speaking of which…”

“Ah…” Alice glanced at one of her returning patrols lead by Shanghai.  “I believe we may have found what we’re looking for.”

 

* * *

 

“Avoid the ground,” Alice instructed as they flew along the path, “it’s littered with traps.”

Off in the distance, the group could just make out the outlines of a mansion far off in the forest.  A number of faeries and spirits had come out to attack as they moved in, but the combined might of Alice, Marisa, and Yukari was more than enough for those who tried to stand in their way.

Hopping from Reimu’s shoulder to the black-white’s, Hourai directed Marisa’s attention to other traps up ahead.  She opened her bag and let loose a few alchemical bombs, destroying the trouble.

As the smoke started to clear, a wave of bullets greeted them; Marisa and Alice dodged out of the way while Yukari blipped out of reality.  Marisa spotted the attacker and pressed on while Alice’s dolls cleared away more traps made for aerial invaders.

The brunette bunny girl nimbly dodged the blasts from the magician before retaliating.  Her smirk gave way to a frown of worry as the group pressed on; undeterred by the traps she had set.  Marisa took advantage of her moment of uncertainty and pressed forward, quickly overtaking her in battle.

“Be-”

“Arright, you-”

“-careful, Marisa!”

“-now tell us what you- damn, she’s knocked out.”  The black-white magician frowned at the still bunny girl.

“Hrm…!”  Puffing her cheeks in indignation, Reimu glided down next to their defeated opponent to check on her.

“Be careful, there are still traps about…” Her sister called out as Alice and Yukari pulled up alongside.

“What is she-” Yukari started; Marisa held up a hand, cutting her off.

“This is what she does; get used to it.”  She muttered.

Looking over the girl, the shrine maiden lifted her head and held her vial of smelling salts under her nose; the bunny girl began to stir.

“What do you think you’re doing to Tewi?” A voice in front of her suddenly demanded.  Reimu looked up, staring directly into two red eyes.

The world began to spin violently.

The shrine maiden could hear her sister scream something before flashes of light began to appear everywhere.  The figure in front of her disappeared as other waves of light and sound assaulted her senses; she recognized the sounds of combat, but could not actually see what was happening.

Hearing the bunny girl she was helping cry out, Reimu threw herself on top of her, attempting to cover her from the danmaku.

“Please hold still, miss!”  Reimu shouted over the din, “I’m very sorry about this!”

“I don’t think this is a good place to be!”  She returned.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t see right now!”

“Here, let me guide you before we get blown to smithereens!”  Despite her small size, the bunny girl easily lifted Reimu off the ground.  Taking her hand, the girl guided the shrine maiden off of the path. Her vision slowly returned, allowing her to see a purple haired rabbit girl fending off Marisa as Alice and Yukari fought off other defenses.  The brunette sighed. “I told them this was going to turn into a shitshow…”

“Thank you for helping me, Miss.”  Reimu smiled at her. “I’m Reimu Hakurei, from the Hakurei Shrine!  S-sorry about the attack earlier; we’re trying to find out what happened to the moon, and we were told those responsible might be here.  Are you still injured? I can patch you up, if you’d like.”

“It’s Tewi, Tewi Inaba if you want to be fancy about it, and I’m fine now.”  She murmured, still watching the fight. Feeling a weight on her shoulder, Reimu glanced over to see Hourai sitting there once more, glaring daggers at her.  Tewi turned her attention back to the shrine maiden. “Anyway, ya more or le- wait, ‘Hakurei’?!” She suddenly pulled back.

“Y-yes!”  She smiled, clearly nervous by the bunny youkai’s sudden change in attitude.  Tewi peered at her for a moment before relaxing somewhat.

“...huh; not gettin’ the usual bloodlust from your clan.”  She let out a sigh. “At any rate, you more or less found what you’re looking for; I suppose you guys are why the night hasn’t ended yet?”

“Y-yes, sorry about that!”  She bowed nervously; the bunny girl frowned at her.

“...well, whatever.  At least we have a bit of an advantage n-” Her eyes moved over to Hourai.  “How is that doll staying on your shoulder?”

“Oh, that’s Hourai!”

“Huh.”  Tewi reached up and grabbed her.”  “She looks really well made.”

“U-um…”

“What is she carrying, tho-”

Despite it being nearly a third of her height, Hourai expertly spun the butterfly knife around, catching the bunny offguard.  Clicking into place, the point touched Tewi’s throat.

The three fell silent for a moment, the fight still raging on up above.

“...um.”  Tewi finally eked out, her pupils wide with fear.

“Listen up motherfucker,”  Hourai growled, still in the bunny girl’s grip, “if you think you’re taking the kid hostage, then I’m having rabbit stew tonight, got it?”

“...’kay.”

“Hourai…”

“Now let go.”

Releasing the doll, Hourai spun her knife around back into the hilt before taking a seat on Reimu’s shoulder once more.

“I empathize with your sister… _so_ much more now.”  The doll in the red dress sighed.

“S-sorry!”

The three paused as they noticed the lull in combat.

“I don’t care about the rules.”  They could hear the rabbit girl state, responding to something Marisa had shouted.  “Return Tewi, or I _will_ fucking murder you. ”

“Aaah!  P-please wait!”  Reimu called out, pulling Tewi with her.  Lifting the bunny girl into her arms, the shrine maiden flew to the purple-haired opponent.  “I- I’m sorry about that, miss! I was trying to patch her up before the fighting started, and we wanted to get out of the- the battlefield!”  She handed Tewi to her and bowed. “I’m very sorry!”

“...hrn.”  The rabbit girl frowned as she let her companion down, floating next to her.  She glanced up towards the magician on the broom to see her gripping her forehead with a hand, much like the doll on the shrine maiden’s shoulder was doing.  “Who are you?”

“I’m Reimu Hakurei, from the Hakurei Shrine, miss!”  She smiled and bowed. She motioned behind her. “That’s my sister Marisa, and those are my friends Miss Alice, and Lady Yukari!”

“They’re here about the moon.”  Tewi murmured. “ _Like I said would happen._ ”

“Save it for the Doc,” The rabbit girl muttered back, “she’s the one who wanted it done.”  She looked at Reimu. “I’m Commander Reisen Udongein. The master is responsible for the moon; it’s simply to keep the Lunarians from finding us, it’ll be back to normal tomorrow…”  She scratched her chin. “Which… should have been awhile ago, honestly. Maybe they _were_ right to-”

As she spoke, the door to the mansion down below slid open.  A woman in a red-blue dress emerged, armed with a bow. Reisen glanced back towards her.

“We have it under control, Doc.”  She called out, “Give me just a min-”

The doctor took aim and fired.  Her body instinctively reacting before her thoughts could process anything, Reisen pulled to the side, the arrow narrowly missing her hip.  The shield Hourai had set up around the shrine maiden shattered as the bolt shot straight through it.

A ribbon appeared in front of Reimu’s face as the dangerous hiss of the arrow suddenly disappeared.  The gap in front of the shrine maiden closed before another reopened near the assailant’s foot, slamming the arrow deep into the dirt.

“-uteFUCKING HELL!”  Reisen finished with an angry scream.

“Get down here, Reisen.”  the woman ordered, lowering her bow.

“Yeah, sure, take over military matters at a fuckin’ whim, why don’tcha…”  Reisen muttered as she took a defensive position in front of Tewi, not liking the looks of the opponents behind the shrine maiden.  She pointed at Reimu as they moved back. “Look, if you value your lives, stay away. Final warning.”

Grabbing her companion, the commander jumped back before flying down to the mansion.  The other three came up behind Reimu, still shaking from the sudden attack.

“...you alright?”  Marisa asked as she pulled up alongside her.  The shrine maiden nodded, not trusting her voice.

“Thank you for the assist there, Yukari.”  Alice whispered; she grit her teeth as she looked down at the mansion.

“Not a problem, dear.” The sage youkai nodded, glancing at where the arrow was aiming.  “While the shot would not have been fatal, it _would_ have been extremely painful, and would have likely cost us our chance at taking care of this tonight.”

“I’m assuming that was one of their bigwigs that came out,” Marisa muttered, looking at the mansion, “given we haven’t been further attacked, I think it’s safe to say we’ve taken care of their outer defenses.”

“Mm, I recognized that one; one of the Lunarian sages.” Yukari murmured.  “She was exiled to the Earth awhile ago. At the very least, we know it’s not an invasion, but… I still don’t like what they’re doing without letting _me_ know.  I imagine she’s the ringleader.”

“Nn…”  Reimu shook her head.  “N-no, I- I don’t think she is.  Miss… Commander Udongein called her ‘Doc’, but mentioned something about ‘The master’ being responsible.  If- if that was her master, then-”

“She would have likely called _her_ master when she appeared.” The sage youkai finished, nodding.  “I didn’t catch that; well done.”

“I’m not seeing or sensing anything.”  Alice confirmed, passing a crystal her doll in red.  Activating her spell once more, another sphere appeared around the shrine maiden as Hourai muttered obscenities under her breath before the protective spell faded from sight.  “So I think you’re right; defenses have likely been pulled to the inside. At any rate,everyone ready?”

“Y-yes.”  Reimu nodded, sitting on the broom behind Marisa.

“One other thing…” The black-white magician growled, “If you see the red-blue bitch… she’s mine.”

 

* * *

 

“-pull all non-combatants to the the living quarters and _seal the doors_.”  Reisen ordered as chaos reigned throughout the mansion.  The rabbits trained for combat ushered the others to safety as they could hear the intruders approaching; the commander spun to her companion.  “Tewi, guard their entrance. With any luck, I’ll be joining you shortly.”

“Got it.”  Tewi nodded, darting off towards the others.  With the orders given to all, the commander turned to the doctor and held out her hand.  Doctor Eirin handed her an elixir; Reisen quickly downed the restorative, giving the woman a dark look.

“If you’re going to put me in charge of defenses-” She started.

“Yukari wasn’t going to back off-”  Eirin tried to interrupt.

“- _then you need to inform me when there’s a change in plans._ ”

The doctor watched her apprentice pull her hatred back into the pit of her stomach before turning back to the hallway.  The telltale shimmer of the spell card rules activating washed over them as the sounds of fighting grew closer.

“Keep the princess safe.”  The doctor began to pull back as the cacophony intensified.

“Stop trying to shoot non-combatants.”  Reisen returned.

“That was the shrine mai-”

“ _I know who it was because she was the only one who talked to me instead of opening fire._  And after you _tried_ to shoot her, the other three were ready to kill while she just looked scared!   _I know non-combatants when I see them._ ”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Udongein.”

Seeing no reason to indulge her superior any longer, Reisen pulled the pin on her smoke grenade and tossed it down the hallway.  As the intruders rounded the corner, the canister exploded; squeaks and curses could be heard from the cloud. Pushing her advantage, the commander pulled out a spell card and let loose her danmaku.

“Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it aLL!”  She recognized the raging voice of the black-white magician.  “ **AKH MORN!** ”

“Was that drac-”

“ _Move!_ ”  Leaping back, the rabbit girl shoved the doctor out of the way of the massive blast of energy coming from the smoke cloud.  The thick column of light slammed Reisen against the back wall, burning her clothes and skin. As the deadly hum faded with the end of the spell card, Reisen fell to the floor, large spots blurring her vision.

“ ** _YOU._** ”  She could hear the magician’s feral growl.  The commander reached into her pockets as a volley of arrows flew over her head; the others launched their counter-attack.  Feeling the contents, she found two of her hypos damaged beyond use; she tossed them to the side and continued to search, trying to ignore the darkness closing in.  Finding a working needle, she stuck the barb into her neck and pushed the plunger.

The encroaching darkness pulled back, and the spots began to die down.  Quickly assessing the battlefield, she saw the intruders start to move together for a moment; Reisen stood up and whistled sharply.

As her opponents always did, the four looked her way.  Gritting her teeth, Reisen activated her spell card through her wave manipulation, scattering their brain patterns.

“Gah!  You fuckin’ shithawk!”

“Shields!   _Shields!_ ”

“Protect Reimu!”

“I don’t _want_ to ride the rollercoaster again, Auntie…”

“You’ll never win in time!”  She could hear the doctor taunt as she fled down the hallway, letting one last volley off.  “Ha ha ha…!”

Panting heavily, Reisen limped through a different path, heading towards Tewi.

 

* * *

 

“I think I see which way the sage went…” Yukari murmured.  “We need to move quickly, though. Are you good to move?”

“I’m doing better.”  Alice nodded.

“Go after them.”  Marisa ordered; spots continued to appear and disappear in her shaky vision.

“I thought she was y-”

“I’m still fuckin’ blind, Yukari.  Solving the incident is the important thing, and I can’t see!  If you can get her, go. If she’s a false lead, then you’ll be better equipped to escape any trap she throws at you.”

“...well put.  Alice?”

“Let’s go; I’m leaving Hourai with you two.”

“Thanks.”  She could make out two large shapes spin down a corridor as she reached into her bag, feeling around for medicine.  “How ya doin, Reimu?”

“I’ll- I’ll be fine.”  Her sister responded. “I think it’s starting to fade.”

“Is that what she did to ya out in the forest?”  Finding the unique shape of her panacea, Marisa uncorked her potion and took a swig.  Her vision correcting, she placed the bottle in the shrine maiden’s hands, closing her fingers around it.

“Yes; when I looked into her eyes, everything started spinning.”  Reimu finished off the potion before returning the valuable bottle.

“Hrm.  I’ll see what I can do to protect against that.  Anyway, let’s go.”

Leaning forward, the two began to fly out of the room; Reimu pointed to splatters on the ground.

“U-um, blood.”

“Good eye; I bet that’s that rabbit’s blood.  If Alice and Yukari are after the asshole, let’s go after this one instead…”

“Please don’t hurt her too much!  You hit her really hard with your master spark!”

Despite her simmering rage, Marisa found herself laughing.  “After everything these jerks have done-”

“W-well, we _are_ kind of intruding on them…”

The magician shook her head and sighed.  Rounding the corner, they spotted more of the residents rushing away.  Giving chase, the bunnies gave back a fighting retreat, covering the tracks of their comrades as they tried to pull away.  Seeing an opportunity before her, Marisa slowed considerably, staying out of their range of fire while still following them to their destination.

Coming to an intersection, Marisa paused before tossing a few alchemical bombs into the opening; she could hear screams from the right hall before the explosions went off.  The magician rounded the corner, finishing off those who fell behind. As she continued on, the broom suddenly lurched at Reimu grabbed a rabbit who was knocked out.

“What are you-?!”

“She’s hurt!”

“I know, that’s ‘cause I shot her!”

“I know that, that’s why I’m grabbing her!”

Marisa clenched the air with her hand as she grit her teeth.  “Just- leaving the patching until after we land, please…”

Not detecting anything as she approached another intersection, the magician continued to follow where she saw the others fleeing to.  Down at the end of the hall, she saw the two from the outside shut a set of doors. The bunny known as Tewi slapped a seal on the door before taking defensive positions behind makeshift barriers.

“On my mark-”

“PARLEY!”  Reimu shouted, interrupting the commander.  The two paused as she shrine maiden jumped off the broom, holding the unconscious rabbit youkai.  “Parley! Please, we have injured!”

She flinched as she saw Reisen’s eye twitch at her downed compatriot.  Before the rabbit could jump over the barrier, Tewi grabbed her arm and shook her head.  Sighing, Reisen stood and motioned her over.

Staying on the broom, Marisa drifted behind her sister as she approached the two.  Reimu gently set the girl down on the barrier before taking a step back.

“S-sorry, I wasn’t able to administer treatment, but we just found her.”  Reimu bowed. “If you need me to, I can-”

“I have it, thanks.”  The commander muttered, sticking a hypo into the unconscious girl.  Tewi kept an eye on the two, clearly not happy with the situation.

“...where’s your buds?”  She finally asked.

“Oh, Alice and Yukari?”  Marisa cracked a smile.

 

* * *

 

“Gods, this is a long corridor…” Alice mused as they chased to doctor.  Eirin turned to them and sneered.

“And right into my trap you’ve come.  This is the path between the Earth and f-”  She suddenly paused, her eyebrows drawing together as she looked behind them.  “...where are the others?”

“Mm, taking a different path, I’d wager.”  Yukari smiled. “You can chase after them if you’d like… but only if you get through us first.”

“...fuck.”

 

* * *

 

“Well, maybe she’ll learn a bit of humility from this, then…”  Reisen smiled coldly as Tewi helped the other rabbit into one of the rooms behind her, sealing it once more.

“Don’t care for your boss, I take it?”  Marisa asked. She remained on the broom, not fully trusting the two.

“Don’t get me wrong, normally the Doc isn’t too bad.  But when shit like this happens… well, she can be difficult to deal with, I’ll just leave it at that.”  Hand on her hip, the commander stared at the doll sitting on the shrine maiden’s shoulder for a moment.

“You don’t want to touch that, trust me.”  Tewi muttered. Hourai’s lip curled into a grin.  Taking her companion’s advice, Reisen turned her attention to Reimu.

“Look, you seem alright for a human, so I’ll level with you here.  What you’re after isn’t down this hallway. These are all residents and injured.  If what you’re really after is taking care of the moon, you won’t find that here.”

“ _I_ think you’re full of shit, but in the interest of being fair, I’ll put this to a vote.”  Marisa looked at her sister. “Reimu?”

The shrine maiden looked at the sealed off doors for a moment before turning to her.  “I think she’s telling the truth.” She motioned to the doors. “This place is large, but look how close the rooms are together here.  Bedrooms for nobles and dignitaries tend to be larger.”

“Why?”  Hourai asked.  The four blinked and looked at the doll.

“W-well, I- I don’t know, really.”  The shrine maiden mumbled. “I guess it’s because they’re important.”

“They need more room for their ego.”  Marisa stated.

“Earth is _weird._ ”  The doll shook her head.  “Anyway, I’ll side Reimu on this one; I know she pays more attention to that etiquette shit than Marisa does.”

“I’ll pay attention to it when it’s more than just shit.  Wait-” She paused and grit her teeth. “Fuck, I’ve been outvoted.”

“Ha-ha!”

“Quiet, Tewi.”

“Okay, if you think their leader isn’t in the most defended spot in this mansion, what do you want to do?  We don’t have enough time to search everywhere, and I know you’re going to be opposed to my ‘search via masterspark’ method-”

“Please stop firing that indoors!”  Reimu pleaded. “I know we’ve been in combat, but this is still their house!”

“Proving my point right away, thank you, but that still doesn’t solve the incident.”

“W-well…”  She turned Reisen and brought her hands together.  “Could you lead us to the one doing this? I- I know we’ve been rowdy, but if there’s any chance I could solve this peacefully, I’d like to!”

Marisa sighed.  “Reimu, they’re still the enemy.  Don’t ask them for help.”

“B-but we’re in parley!”  She turned to her sister. “You can’t attack someone in parley, that’d be rude!”

The four stared at Reimu.  The shrine maiden felt her face heat up.

“ _Do you not. Remember. The_ **_fucking doctor_** _a few minutes ago?_ ”  Hourai demanded.

“Yeah, don’t- don’t go anywhere without your sister, please.”  Reisen sighed, grimacing. Tewi nodded.

The shrine maiden shuffled her feet.  “I don’t.”

“Good kid.”  Sighing, Reisen looked over at Tewi; the bunny girl closed her eyes and gave a nod.  She glanced back at the two sisters. “At any rate, if it keeps you away from the civilians, I’ll guide you over to the Master of Eientei.”

“Strangely altruistic of you.”  Marisa noted.

“Not really.”  She motioned for them to follow as she passed them, “I’m keeping you away from those who could be hurt; that’s my job.”

“Ah, don’t think we’re up to snuff for harming your master, eh?”

“Please don’t antagonize her, Marisa!”

“Heh!”  Reisen smirked, taking them past the previous intersection.  “No, no I wouldn’t be too surprised if you were able to hand her ass to her.  But… well, you’ll see. Not my place to say, really.”

“Hm.”

“So are you in charge of defense here, Commander Udongein?”  The shrine maiden asked, looking up at her. The rabbit stared back for a moment, one eyebrow raised.

“Just… ‘Reisen’, please.  And I suppose you could say that.  I’m not technically in charge, but I’ve been able to teach the bunnies a thing or two since arriving.  They understand I’m teaching them for their survival. Spell cards have helped considerably with that training, too…”

Reimu smiled.  “I’m glad to hear that, Miss Reisen.”

“At any rate… here we are.”  Reisen knocked on the door. “Yer Highness?  You have guests.”

“Ah!” A voice came from the other side of the door.  “Show them in, please.”

The commander glanced at Reimu briefly before moving her gaze to Marisa.  “Can I trust you not to start a fight right away?”

“Nope.”  The magician nodded to her sister as she set foot on the floor.  “But she can.”

“Whatever.  I’m over this shit.  Princess…” She slid the door open, “This is Reimu and Marisa Hakurei, from the Hakurei Shrine.  They’re here-”

“I’m Kirisame, actually.”  Marisa corrected. Reisen paused and stared.

“...shut the fuck up.”  She turned her attention back to the grinning royalty.  “Anyway, they’re here about the moon! Surprise, surprise, I know.”

“You also forg-”  The magician started once more.  The commander snapped her head in Marisa’s direction.

“I will harm you.”  She stated in a matter of fact tone, holding up a finger in warning.  Reimu glanced at the two nervously before looking back at the princess.  The woman with the straight bangs chuckled silently at the antics brought to her room before regaining her composure when the rabbit looked her way once more.  “At any rate, they- well, _she_ wished to talk to you about it.”

“So, who are we talk-”  Marisa began; Reisen readied her hand for a strike.

“ _Would you stop-_ oh,”  The commander let out a laugh as she lowered her hand, “This is Princess Kaguya Houraisan.  Anyway,” She pushed against the small of the shrine maiden’s back, “you two go at it, I’ll keep this one in line.”

“Thank you for seeing us, your highness.”  Reimu bowed. “I apologize for the trouble we caused upon approach and entry, but I’m afraid we were unable to establish a line of communication until now.”

The magician grinned.  “Well, we started to, b- ow!”

“Ah, it’s quite alright, dear.”  Kaguya smiled, motioning to the cushion.  Taking the seat, Reimu continued on.

“Magister Mima noticed the shift in the moon earlier this evening, along with Lady Yukari and Magister Margatroid.  Given the phases and position of the moon has strong effects on the youkai and magic in Gensokyo, we were asked to investigate the cause and fix if possible.”

“And your search lead you to our humble abode.”  Kaguya nodded. Marisa received another elbow to the ribs as she opened her mouth.

“That’s correct, your highness.  And after encountering the commander and the doctor of Eientei, it has been confirmed that the source of the false moon’s projection comes from here.”  The shrine maiden smiled softly. “I feel it’s safe to assume this was done with purpose, and not on a whim, so I was hoping you would share your reasoning for doing such a thing.”

“I suppose that’s the least I can do, given that you’ve come all this way to find out what’s going on.”  Kaguya glanced at the magician before turning her attention back to Reimu. “By the looks of your sister, I’d wager you’re short on time, so I shall keep this brief.  You see, the good doctor, Inaba, and I-”

“Who- _ow!_ ”

“That’s me, shut it.”

“-are from the moon.  I was exiled for reasons unimportant at this moment, and Eirin decided to follow-”

“And wh-” the two could hear Marisa fall over after another bone bruising blow from Reisen.

“Fucking hells, be _silent!_ ”

“-and keep me company.  When Inaba came to live with us, she used her powers to monitor the Lunar Capital in case of trouble.  Recently we believed there was a chance that some of the Lunarians were planning to come and locate me.”

“Oh!  Are- are they hunting you, your highness?”

The princess chuckled.  “No, no. They wish to… end my exile, as it were.  However, I’ve come to enjoy the Earth and Gensokyo, and I feel they’ll not understand.  There is, of course, the added fact that Inaba is an outcast as well, and I do not wish to see her hurt.”

The shrine maiden frowned.  “But… she’s a citizen of Gensokyo; they have no say over her.”

Kaguya blinked.  “I…” She paused and gave Reimu and appraising look, smiling softly.  “...I am happy to hear you say that, shrine maiden of Hakurei. Unfortunately, the Lunarians are quite powerful… and such power causes them to believe their laws supersede all others.  Whether or not they’re in the right-” she held up a hand, interrupting Reimu before she could respond, “-would only come up… ‘after the fact’, as it were. Far too late to be of use.”

Reimu put a hand to her chin as she considered the princess’ words, her brows furrowed.  “...I understand your reasoning,” she nodded, “and I believe no one here had any ill will for hiding away the moon from Gensokyo.”

“Thank you.”

“With that said, the methods you’ve used _are_ causing problems.  Would you be willing to do this another way should this issue ever arise again?”

“Oh, certainly!”  The princess beamed.  “I believe it would even be safe to revert now, if you wish.”  She glanced at Reisen. “That should be alright, wouldn’t you say?”

The commander shrugged.  “Probably; I think you remember my stance on this whole thing anyway, Princess.”

Kaguya laughed softly.  “Oh yes, I tried to tell Eirin as well, but… well, you know how she gets.”

Reisen grit her teeth.  “ _Yep._ ”

The lunarian princess turned her attention back to Reimu once more.  “There you go, then.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Reimu bowed.  “Thank you very much, your highness! If you need help with protecting yourselves another way, please let us know, and we’ll be happy to help.”

“Well… there is _one_ thing I could use some help with, if you don’t mind…”

“Certainly!  What is it?”

“Well, I’m bored.”

The shrine maiden tilted her head slightly.  “I’m sorry to hear that, your highness.”

“And I saw the fun games you played with Inaba outside, so I was wondering if you’d be willing to play with me.”

“I…”  Her eyes widened as she realized what the princess was requesting.  “O-oh, I um-!”

“Here-”  Marisa’s hand came into view.  “-tag me in!”

Clasping her hand, Marisa sat down next to her sister.  Smiling at the princess, gave a small wave before sticking out her hand.

“Hey!  Marisa Kirisame, Reimu’s sister.”

“Well met, Magister Kirisame.”  She smiled, shaking the magician’s hand.  “Kaguya Houraisan, Master of Eientei.”

“Okay so, Reimu does the talking, I do the fighting.  That’s how we operate.”

“Alright.”

“You fine with fighting me instead?”

“I believe that will suffice, yes.”

“And this is going to just be a friendly spar, right?  You’re not going to renege on your word if you don’t like the outcome or anything?”

“I shall keep my word, but Magister?”

“Yyyes?”

“I _do_ want you to try your best.”

Marisa grinned.  “Oh… don’t worry, Princess.  I always give it my all.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m going to be so glad when this fuckin’ night is over.”  Reisen blew smoke out the side of her mouth before lighting her pipe once more.

“S-sorry about that!”  Reimu fidgeted. The two stood in the path around the zen garden in the center of the mansion, watching the match between the magician and princess in the night sky above.  Behind them, the true full moon could be seen once again.

“Hm?  No, no… you’re good, kid.”  She shook her head before offering the pipe.  “I just meant… all the shit from today, not your guy’s spell thing, making the night literally longer.”

“W-well, still.  I’m sorry we injured you and everyone else here.  I’m glad her highness was willing to listen, though.”

“She has her own things she gets real stupid on, but I guess everyone’s susceptible to that.”  The commander glanced down at the shrine maiden as she took her pipe back. “So… did I hear you say Mima sent you guys out on this matter?”

“Yes!  Have you met Magister Mima before?”

“No, but I’ve… heard about her from Tewi.”  She gave the shrine maiden another sidelong glance as she took a hit off her pipe.  “Kinda surprised you’d work with her… from what I’ve heard, anyway.”

“Aw, Auntie Mima’s real nice!”

With the lighter to the bowl, Reisen suddenly paused.  The flame extinguished.

“...’Auntie’...?”  She asked quietly, lowering her pipe.  The shrine maiden’s face turned a deep scarlet.

“Ah, she’s… she’s my aunt.”  Reimu whispered quietly, smiling despite her blush.  “She’s Marisa’s mom and teacher.”

“Hhhuh.”  Reisen looked up at Marisa, engulfing the princess with a Master Spark.  She tried to process the information. “That… huh. Hm.” She flicked her lighter on and lit her pipe with renewed fervor.

Passing the pipe once more, the door behind the two slid open.  The doctor approached the landing, with Yukari and Alice following behind.  With her clothes torn and one eye swollen shut, it was quite clear that Eirin had not fared well against the two.  Smoke poured from Reisen’s mouth as she pointed and laughed at her boss.

“This isn’t funny, Reisen.”  The doctor stated flatly. Reisen’s maniacal cackling informed the others she thought otherwise.

“Aaah!”  Reimu tugged on the commander’s blazer sleeve.  “M-Miss Reisen! Where’s your emergency kit, she needs medical attention!”

“Bwahaha!  No, I think she got what she needed already!”  The rabbit grabbed the railing to hold herself up as her legs started to give way.  “Holy shit, that’s just what I needed to see… heh heh heh!”

“Please, Miss Reisen!”

“Don’t worry, kiddo…” Tewi interrupted, slipping past the two tall blondes, “got it right here.”

“Ah, thank you Miss Tewi!  Here-” She tugged on Eirin’s sleeve, trying her best not to tear it any further than it was.  “-please sit down, Doctor; I’ll patch you up.”

“I don’t-”  Before she could finish, the bunny bearing the medkit reached up and grabbed Eirin by the ear.

“Take… the hospitality, Doc.” She whispered fiercely.  The lunarian sage’s one good eye turned to Tewi for a moment before she sighed.

“...thank you, Hakurei.”

Her fit of debilitating laughter at an end, Reisen walked over to the doctor as the shrine maiden went to work.  She handed Eirin her pipe as she grabbed a jar over Reimu’s shoulder, the shrine maiden herself getting disinfectant and bandages ready for use.  The commander looked at the black eye before glancing at the two who came in with the doctor. Settling on Alice, Reisen glanced briefly at Hourai’s grin before finally looking back at the doctor.

“The puppeteer?”  She asked, applying the remedy to her swollen face.  Eirin grunted, blowing the smoke out her nostrils. “Thought so.  You going to listen to me next time?”

“There won’t _be_ a ‘next time,’ Reisen.”  The doctor muttered.

“Then you should have no problem agreeing to it if it’s never going to happen, hmm?”

Eirin gave the commander a dark glare; Reisen held her gaze.  The doctor started to chuckle before sighing.

“Well if you’re going to be a little _shit_ about it, then I guess I have no choice.”

“Hey now, watch your language.  There’s childr-”

“Oh, don’t you _even_ try to-”

“-there’s _children about-_ ”

“-I will backhand you _so hard_ , Udongein-!”

“-think of the children, Doc…”

“It’s like watching Patchouli and Marisa…”  Alice sighed. Yukari grinned, keeping her eyes on the fight above.

“Reimu?”

“-raise your other arm please.”  The shrine maiden glanced at the sage youkai.  “Yes, Lady Yukari?”

“How well do you think Marisa knows some of the more… esoteric Spell Card Rules?”

“I’m… not sure; why do you wish to know?”

“Because…” She paused as the princess plummeted out of the sky, striking the ground at an unfortunate angle.  “...she may be getting blindsided soon.”

“Uh… Kaguya?”  The magician called warily.  “Are… you okay, bud?”

Reimu stopped in mid-wrap, staring out at the Zen Garden in horror.  As the shrine maiden watched her sister, Marisa suddenly jerked her broom to the side, narrowly avoiding a blast of danmaku.  Zipping back up into the air, the magician tried to reach a safe distance from the princess.

“Oh dear…”

Kaguya’s words were punctuated by a distressingly large number of bombs falling to the ground, going off at point blank range from the princess.

“Your highness!”  Eirin and Reimu cried out.

“Hm-hm-hmmm~” Marisa drifted back down, her mini-hakkero primed in her hand.  She gave the princess a mirthless smile. “Dunno how you did that, but you certainly fooled me there.”

“Not well enough, I’m afraid.”  Kaguya coughed, holding up a hand to the victor.  “Your win, Magister Kirisame.”

Marisa reached down and pulled her upright.  “Just ‘Marisa’, plea-” The magician’s eyes went wide in disturbed concern as the princess’ head hung unnaturally far down.

“Ah- sorry about that…!”  Kaguya pulled her own head back; the sound of bones popping into place rang out across the garden.  “That fall hurt more than the bombs, I’m afraid…”

“...I…” Marisa’s mouth hung open for a moment, “...realize this may not be the most diplomatic thing to say, but _that was weird._ ”

“Miss Kirisame!”  Kaguya turned away, putting the back of her hand on her forehead.  “I am shocked! Shocked by your callous words!”

“Like, _really damn weird_.”  Marisa continued to frown.  “The fuck, yo?”

Realizing the magician was not going to take her bait, Kaguya turned back and smiled at her.  “I’m immortal. I cannot be killed, so some of the rules don’t apply-”

“Hey your highness!”  Reisen yelled. “Not all of us have full length kimonos to wear in the dead of night, how ‘bout we take this inside, eh?!”

“Come on,” Marisa wrapped an arm around the princess, giving her some support, “let’s move alo-”

The magician came to a halt as she looked at the crowd on the veranda.  Her eyes locked onto the doctor.

“Reimu, sweetie?”  She called out, readying her mini-hakkero, “Could you step to the side please?”

“Just a sec- Marisa, _no!_ ”  Seeing what her sister was armed with, the shrine maiden stood up in front of Eirin.

“Did the good doctor give you poor bedside manner?” Kaguya asked as they continued on.  Marisa let out a harrumph as she pocketed her focus once more.

“Bitch tried to shoot my sister while she was negotiating with Reisen.”

“Oh my.” The princess raised her eyebrows.  “Poor bedside manner, indeed.”

 

“...and so Reisen joined our happy family here.”  Inside once more, Kaguya told their visitors their tale of arriving in Gensokyo.  With the extended evening’s incident at an end, Alice and Yukari had taken over diplomatic duties to allow the shrine maiden to conserve the last of her energy for the trip home.  Reimu sat with Reisen, leaning against Tewi; the two fed her offhand commentary on the princess’ story, giving her a picture closer to the truth than the others were hearing. Not trusting herself to avoid the temptation of harming the doctor at the first possible opening, Marisa stood next to the door, ready to leave.

“Well,” Alice nodded, “that certainly is interesting to hear.  While abridged, I’m sure we’ll have time to hear more on future visits.”

“Mm, perhaps it _is_ time for us to rejoin society once more.”  Kaguya and Eirin stood, the two youkai following suit.  “You are welcome to visit whenever you wish, or if you have an ailment.”  The princess glanced at her guardian. “When not protecting me from problems of our own design, the good doctor here is quite good at healing and restoratives!”

“Thank you.”  Alice smiled, giving a small bow.  “Guarding Gensokyo is dangerous work, I’m certain those two would be happy to have a good source of reliable medicine.”

“Anyway, looks like that’s that.”  Reisen blew out a cloud of smoke as the three got up.  “Any other questions, kid?”

The shrine maiden tapped her fingertips together.  “N-no. Well, not about your history.”

“Well?  Out with it, then.”

Reimu looked up at the commander for a moment.  “C-could I feel your ears? Th-they look really soft!”

“...Ya know what, I’m fucked up enough to think that’s not a bad idea.”  Reisen tilted her head down, bringing her ears within range of the Hakurei’s hands.

“Wow…!”

“Oi!  Reimu, come on!”  Marisa called from the doorway; the shrine maiden jumped.

“S-sorry Marisa!”  Reimu ran to the door before stopping and turning to the residents of Eientei.  “I-it was good to meet you all! Please stop by the Hakurei Shrine sometime!”

Giving a quick bow, the shrine maiden left.

 

* * *

 

“I have never dealt with someone as insufferable as you.”  Remilia muttered, trying to push herself up.

“I bet your maid has.”  Yuyuko shot back, laying on the ground.

“Shut your-”  The vampire peered up at the sky, noticing the colour.  “Bloody _hell_ , it’s morning!”

Grunting, the royal ghost rolled over and looked at the same sky as her opponent.  “I can’t believe you made me bungle up solving this.”

“Excuse you!”

“You heard me.”

“Enough of this.  Sakuya!” Remilia called.  “Sakuya, we’re leaving!”

“Youmu, I believe it’s time for us to go.”

“...Sakuya?”

“...Youmu?”

“Great.”  The vampire sighed, crawling towards the deeper shadows.  “You scared her off.”

“Me?!”  Yuyuko finally sat up, glaring at her.  “It’s your fault we-”

“I am _not_ about to take such baseless comments from the likes of-”

“The only thing baseless is your _brain_ , you-”

As the sun was finally allowed to continue its slow ascent into the sky, the bickering of the two could be heard throughout the bamboo forest.

 

* * *

 

Mokou

 

“Why are we out here again?”  Marisa sighed as the drifted through the bamboo forest of the lost.

“Princess Kaguya offered a ‘Trial of Guts’ and you accepted.”  Reimu reminded her.

“Right, ‘cause I’m a sucker.”  She glanced back towards the ones riding with her.  “And why didn’t your master tag along again?”

“Mother had other things to take care of, relating to… back home.”  Shanghai answered; the doll sat on Reimu’s shoulder. “And Lady Yukari wasn’t interested in a challenge issued by Lunarian royalty.”

“Huh.”  The magician tossed a few bombs towards approaching enemies.  “Not that I mind the lack of snark, but where’s your sister, anyway?”

“I- I think Hourai was getting stressed out at some of my um… my choices in the last incident.”  Reimu fidgeted. Shanghai pat the side of her face.

“Aw, don’t worry!  Hourai’s just a little high-strung, that’s all!”

The three were blinded by a massive burst of light from above.  The doll threw up a shield as Marisa swerved hard, relying on her arcane senses to dodge the incoming fire.

“ **That’s far enough-** ” A familiar voice began to shout, “-oh, it’s you two.”

“Miss… Keine?”  Reimu called out, spots still appearing in front of her eyes.

“Oh, hey cowgirl.”  Marisa grinned, “see you’re feelin’ better.”

The horned defender sighed as she put a fist on her hip.  “What are you two doing out here?”

“I was just askin’ that!”

“Just… go home, kids.  If you need, I’ll guide you.”

“U-um!  Princess Kaguya sent us, Miss Keine!”  Reimu pushed herself up, using Marisa’s shoulders for balance.  “She gave us a ‘Trial of Guts’!”

The hakutaku’s eyes narrowed.  “The moon princess sent you.”

“Yes!  Are you friends with Prin-”

“Yeah, Reimu?” Her sister interrupted.  “She’s getting ready for battle.”

“O-oh.  Wait! Why?”

“I’m not going to let you hurt her.”  A fan of cards filled her hand. The shrine maiden gave her a confused look.

“W-who?”

“Yeah, Keine?  What she told you - that’s all we know about this challenge.  The fuck you goin’ on about?”

The green-white defender scratched her chin as she looked over the two, trying to determine the truth.  The shrine maiden hopped the broom and floated closer, dodging Marisa’s grabbing hand.

“Oi!  Get-”

“She’s not going to attack me, Marisa; she knows I can’t fight her!”

“That’s not a proper line of thinking, yo!”

“Have to agree with your bad company, young Hakurei.”  Keine chimed in, looking at the petite shrine maiden. Reimu gave a short bow.

“Miss Keine, would you be willing to escort us to your friend?  If we were sent out to attack her, I’d like to talk to her and see why we were sent, at the very least.  There might be something else going on!”

“Nnno, there’s nothing else going on.”  Keine shook her head. “It’s the same thing as always - the Princess is a horrible person and sends others out to attack my friend because they hate one another.  Normally they keep their little feud to themselves, but since Eientei started interacting with people again, I guess she decided to go full-tilt stupid.” The defender let out an irritated sigh.  “Gods only know how many others she’s trying to involve with this…”

 

* * *

 

“Master?”  Sakuya called, approaching the clearing in the library.  “You’ve received an invitation from a ‘Princess Houraisan’’ in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.  It appears-”

“The forest is stupid.”  Remilia waved her hand dismissively, keeping her eyes on her comic.  “I’m done with stupid things. Throw- throw it away.”

“As you wish, Master.”

“Stupid Bamboo Forest of the Lost.”  She continued to grumble. “Stupid subordinates abandoning their loving masters…”

“Tell us how you _truly_ feel, Remi.”  Patchouli commented.  She grinned at the vampire’s hiss of a response.

 

* * *

 

“Anything interesting in the mail, Youmu?”  The spectral princess yawned; the gardener continued to look through the letters.  Frowning, she tore one open.

“It appears the ones causing the problem with the moon last month is offering us a challenge for… tonight, it seems.”

“Oh my~”

“Do you wish to attend, master?”

Yuyuko touched a long sleeve to her lips, thinking.  “Well, let’s see how we feel after breakfast.”

“‘Dinner’, Master.”

“Yes-yes-yes- the tasty meal!”

“As you wish.”

 

* * *

 

“At any rate, there’s no reason for you to see her.”  Keine folded her arms, her one hand full of spell cards.  “Just go home and forget about this foolish challenge.”

“Actually, there _is_ one good-” Shanghai began.

“Holy crap, a talking doll!”

“I get that a lot!  But listen, listen…”  She motioned with her tiny hand for the hakutaku to come closer; Keine leaned down.  “You _kind of_ made a tactical blunder.  Marisa back there? She was just about ready to go home because she thought this was a wild goose chase, but you basically informed her it wasn’t.  She’s interested in seeing this through now.”

Her eyes drifted up to the magician, far enough away to be unaware of the doll’s words.

“However!  If you escort us, she’s going to defer to Reimu talking to this person you’re protecting, and if you’re with us, that person should know we’re not going to attack her right off the bat, which is probably what the princess was counting on.”

“Please, Miss Keine?”  Reimu placed a hand on her arm, staring up at her.  “I know I’ll be safe with you and Marisa there!”

She let out an irritated sigh.  “That’s laying it on thick, shrine maiden, but… fine.”

 

“-there haven’t been nearly as many people getting involved in recent years since Eientei secluded themselves, but…” Keine sighed.  “Stupidity is circular.” As they traveled, the defender told the two guardians of Gensokyo about her friend and the princess’ relationship.

“I’ve found it more shaped like a ‘nine’, myself…” Marisa commented.

“Nines have a circle in them, depending how you write them!” Shanghai chimed in.

“Yea- wait you’re being mean to Miss Cirno again, aren’t you?!”

“The ice fairy?” Keine shook her head and sighed.  “You should keep better company, young Hakurei.”

“Miss Cirno is very nice!”  Reimu returned, not willing to back down on the subject.  “Her company is just fine!”

“I shudder to think what your clan w-”

A hand suddenly clamped down on Keine’s shoulder, pressing right against a bundle of nerves.  She painfully turned to see Marisa looking right at her, the magician’s face void of all emotion.  She leaned closer.

“Don’t.”  Her voice was a soft whisper, almost inaudible.  Though only a single word was spoken, Keine could see the promise of brutal violence hidden within the magician’s eyes.  The hakutaku managed to give a single nod before the magician let go.

“How did you meet this friend of yours, Defender Kamishirasawa?”  Shanghai asked, knowing better than to let the awkward silence form.

“Hm?”  She cleared her throat.  “Oh, we-”

“Keine?”  A voice called out ahead.  The group looked up to see a young, white-haired woman in suspenders approach from a clearing ahead.  “Keine, are- are you leading some of your _students_ here?!  What’s going on?”

“No!  No-” The defender growled, blushing angrily, “this-” she let out a huff and put a hand to her forehead.

“Good evening, miss!”  Reimu approached and bowed.  The woman nodded, slightly confused.  “My name is Reimu Hakurei, I’m from the Hakurei shrine!  Someone sent us out here in… what appears to be a trick, according to Miss Keine.”

“O… kay.”

“Kaguya sent them on a ‘Trial of Guts’.”  The hakutaku rolled her eyes. “She didn’t even tell them what it meant.”

“ _Oh._ ”  The white haired woman looked back at Reimu, folding her arms.  “If you know it’s a trick _now_ , then what are you still doing here?”

“I- I wished to find out why she would send anyone to attack you, miss!”  The shrine maiden gripped the hem of her detached sleeves. “I would like see if there’s anything I can do to help resolve this, so- so no one gets hurt.”

The woman stared at Reimu, one eyebrow arched.  She slowly looked up at Keine, seeking an explanation.  The hakutaku rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“It’s… seriously how she is.”

“That’s funny, the way you phrased it made it sound like that’s a _bad thing._ ”  Marisa noted humorlessly.

“...I never said that, Marisa.”  Keine stated patiently.

“No, but the _sound_ of your _tone-!_ ”

“Don’t give me that-!”

“Arri- shush-sh-sh-sh…!” The woman waved her hand, getting their attention.  Reimu stared at the ground, blushing brightly. “I think it’s safe to say you’re more likely to fight each other instead of me.  Let’s- let’s go sit down and talk, arright?” She turned around and waved them along. “Come on, I have a campfire…”

“Th-thank you, miss!”

 

“My name is Lady Mokou Fujiwara.”  The white-haired woman announced as she sat on a log near the fire.  “That said, I’d prefer it if you kept it to ‘Mokou’. The title lost meaning long ago, but I’ve had people accuse me of attempting to hide something by not revealing it before.”

“Well met, Miss Mokou!”  Reimu bowed once more and held out her hand towards the one dressed in black and white.  “This is my sister, Marisa! We live at the Hakurei Shrine, and try to keep the peace in Gensokyo!”  She motioned to a doll on her shoulder. “And this is Shanghai! She’s a friend of ours.”

To her surprise, the doll smiled and waved back while Marisa gave her a nod before they all sat down.

Mokou sighed inwardly as she looked at the group before her.  The white-haired woman had never been one for unexpected company, but she could tell it was an unusual group before her.  Keine was not the type to bring people with her on a whim, especially while under the effects of a full moon. The shrine maiden’s outfit seemed vaguely familiar, but it had been far too long to fully remember when she encountered it last.  The girl’s sister had said very little outside of her snark to Keine, but she could feel the power brimming within her.

“So…” She sighed outwardly.  “Trial of Guts. Trial of Guts…” Mokou looked at the two strangers.  “How do you know the moon bitch, anyway?”

“Mokou!”  Keine gave her a look.  “ _Children._ ”

“Yeah,” Marisa grinned, “watch your fuckin’ mouth, eh?”

Surprisingly enough, the magician managed to dodge the smack from the schoolmarm.  Smiling nervously, Reimu took the opportunity to answer.

“We met her highness last month, when the moon had been replaced.”

“...oh, when the night wasn’t ending.  I remember that.”

“Yes!  We um, extended the night to find out what was happening, and Miss Keine was kind enough to direct us to the bamboo forest.”

The way the magician smirked and how her friend looked away told Mokou there was more than what was being said.

“Afterwards we came across Miss Tewi and Miss Reisen, and they introduced us to the princess.  She explained to us why they had hidden the moon away, and agreed not to use such methods again, as it caused a lot of problems for the youkai and magicians.”  The girl tapped her fingers together, thinking. “We’ve gone to visit them a few other times since, for medicine and to say hello. Then, um… this morning, her highness came to the shrine and told us to come out here tonight for a Trial of Guts.”

“And you didn’t wonder what that was?”

“We um, thought it was a challenge of courage.”  The shrine maiden smiled, mildly embarrassed.

“That’s fair.”  Mokou shrugged. “But it’s a bit more literal in this case.”  She thumped her midsection. Reimu frowned as comprehension dawned on her.

“You- you mean i-it’s to rip… rip out y-your…?”

“Rip out and _eat,_ actually…”  She paused as a look of abject horror passed over Reimu’s face.  “Should… I talk to your sister about this instead?”

“N-no!”  She shook her head and frowned up at Mokou.  “I’m tough!”

“Right, right.”  The white-haired woman turned and scratched her nose, hiding her smile.

“I- I can take it!”

“We’re all _very_ proud of you, dear.”  Shanghai pat her cheek.

“But why- why would she send us to e-e-eat your… guts?”

“‘Cause I’m an immortal like her, and apparently that’s where the medicine that grants the immortality gets stored.”  Mokou glanced away. “Granted, it’s not like I’ve _tested_ that before, but…”

“O-oh.”  Reimu frowned.  “But why does she send people out to do that, though?”

The immortal shrugged.  “‘Cause she’s a horrible caricature of a person, probably.  I hate her, she hates me, and this is probably how she gets her jollies.”

“What started your feud, though?”

Mokou smiled to herself as she saw Keine wince at the question.  Her friend had heard her tirades about the lunar princess more than anyone else.

“Long story I don’t feel like getting into, but basically my father loved her, she snubbed and humiliated him.  Lost his status, I swore revenge…” She spun her hand around as she glanced up at the sky, trying to determine how much to say and how much to leave out, “few murders later, I had the Hourai Elixir and like a gods damned idiot, I drank it, so now _I_ can’t die and we spend our time killing one another.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“Why?  It’s not _your_ fault.  Shit happens and life sucks, sometimes.  That’s all there is- please don’t cry.”

Marisa pulled her sister close and gave her a hug.  “Sorry yo, she’s a bit sensitive to people’s dumbassery.  At any rate, I think we’ve learned all we need to about this.”

“Mm.”  Mokou stood and stretched; the other three stood as well.

Having recomposed herself somewhat, Reimu approached and bowed.  “Thank you for your time, Miss Mokou. I am sorry we came at such a late hour, but I’m thankful we were able to resolve this peacefully.”

“Eh, no problem kiddo.”  The immortal reached down and ruffled her hair.

“We live at the Hakurei Shrine, near the base of Youkai Mountain; please come and visit us some time!  If you need directions, Miss Keine knows how to get there.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.  You guys alright gettin’ home on your own?”

Keine shook her head.  “Don’t worry, I’ll escort them.”

“Ah, thanks.”  She gave a wave as they moved towards the path leaving the clearing.  “Take care, folks. Watch out for lunatics.” She heard the magician sigh as they left, leaving the immortal alone once more.  Loading the spit over the fire full of food, Mokou dug through some of her journals as her late dinner cooked.

“Hakurei… Hakurei…” She skimmed the pages, turning the spit once and awhile.  “Ah! Hm… godsdamn, they’ve changed.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with you coming back here…”  Keine murmured as they landed in front of Eientei.

“Too bad; Reimu wants to report in, so we’re here.”  Marisa glanced at the schoolmarm. “If you wanna tag along, feel free to, but don’t try and keep Reimu from doin’ her job.  Either way, we _can_ find our way back from here, so if you got other shit to do, we’ll be fine.”

“Alright!  Alright…” Shaking her head, the hakutaku turned to leave.

“...Defender Kamishirasawa.”  The shrine maiden called out. Keine turned back towards them and looked at the girl.  “Thank you for your assistance in protecting the people of Gensokyo. While it’s unfortunate we’re often at odds with one another because of our differing methods, we truly appreciate all you do.”

Smiling, Keine sighed as she watched the girl bow.  She approached her once more as Reimu came back up.

“Ah, look at you…”  Putting a hand to her cheek, Keine raised the girl’s face to look at her.  “You’re so tired and sad, you can’t even smile right now. Just… finish up here and go get some rest, alright?  Your aunt and mother must be worried about you two. Gods know I am whenever I see you two head out somewhere.”

“We will; thank you, Miss Keine.”

“You be careful yourself, arright?”  Marisa nodded at the rabbit who opened the door before looking back at the schoolmarm.  “We have one another, but you always fight alone. Be safe.”

“Thank you.”  She turned to leave once more.  “Take care, you two.”

Marisa put a hand on Reimu’s shoulder as they followed the rabbit to the lunar princess’ chambers.  Her sister had said very little since they had parted ways with Mokou; she knew the shrine maiden was not a fan of feuds as they had just witnessed.

“-interesting little town, but I- ah!”  Kaguya smiled up at the two as they were lead into her meeting chambers. Tewi sat next to her; she raised an eyebrow in confusion, but remained quiet.  “Come in, come in! Have a seat and tell me how your trial went!”

Paying more attention to the bunny than the royalty, Marisa noticed her eye twitch at the mention of the trial.  Before she could think about it, she realized Reimu had not moved.

“Your highness, we do _not_ appreciate you involving us in your feud with Lady Fujiwara, especially in such a way that could only end in a fight with what little you had told us.”

While Marisa had never learned how to ‘talk the talk’ that her mother had taught Reimu, the magician had learned how to pay attention to people’s reactions.  She could see the princess slip into a mask, hiding her true emotions while putting others on display. Despite the princess’ apparently growing boredom, Tewi was openly growing more agitated with what had occurred.

“Mm, that’s too bad… I was hoping for a more… interesting outcome.”

“We are human, your highness.  Consuming the entrails of another person is something youkai do, and the ones I know are too civilized to do such a thing.  Whether the two of you are immortal or not, the Hakurei Clan would appreciate it if you would stop sending others on this ‘Trial of Guts’, as it will likely end in grievous injuries for them, if not death.”  The shrine maiden sighed and turned around. “Now if you’ll excuse us, it’s very late, and we need to report to Magister Mima before we can rest.”

The colour drained from Tewi’s face.  Kaguya looked at her nails.

“Mm, as you wish.”

“Rei- Defender Hakurei!”  The bunny shouted, reaching towards her; the magician could hear the fear and desperation in her voice.  Reimu blinked and turned back towards her.

“Y-yes, Miss Tewi?”  The small fire was out of the shrine maiden’s voice.

Tewi wet her lips, shaking slightly.  “I… I believe there’s been a… _misunderstanding_ on the part of Eientei tonight.  I- I would appreciate it if you could give me a few minutes to educate her highness, so we may give you a proper apology… please?”

Reimu regarded her for a moment.  “...very well, Miss Tewi.”

The bunny gave a sigh of relief.  “Th-thank you, Defender! Thank you.”  She thumped the floor twice; the door opened and two more rabbits entered.  “They will take you to wherever you wish to go within the manor, and will let you know when I’ve finished my… talk.  Thank you.”

Exiting the room, the two escorts turned to their charges.

“Are you hungry?”  One asked.

“Or would you like to rest until Master is done?”

“...is Miss-” Reimu glanced at the rabbit.  “Is the Commander available?”

The two humans watched as the girl balanced her mental scales of duty and fear.

“She’s… currently working in her room.”  She finally answered. “But we can see if she’s willing to take guests.  It should be for just a short time, after all.”

Reimu gave a slight bow.  “Thank you, Miss.”

Marisa held up a finger to her escort, keeping her silent as the magician watched the other lead her sister away.  While she did not like to part from Reimu, she knew Tewi was not about to pull anything with how she had acted. As the shrine maiden rounded the corner, Marisa turned her attention back to the bunny and smiled.

“...where’s the Doc?”

 

* * *

 

“What was the _one law_ I laid down when I allowed Eientei to settle here?”  The leader of the earth rabbits glared at the lunar princess.  “Tell me, Kaguya. _What did I ask of you._ ”

“You asked of us ‘Not to put the colony in danger’.”

“ _You’re about to break that fucking law._ ”

The princess blinked, leaning away from the agitated bunny.

“I fail to see how-”

“Do you… have _any idea_ … who Mima is?”  Despite her anger beginning to get the best of her, the bunny’s voice dropped upon mention of the spectre’s name.

“A local magician, by the sounds of it.”  She shrugged. Tewi took a sharp breath, her pupils constricting.

“She’s a lich, Kaguya.  She’s one of the most savage threats to Gensokyo.  She’s been here almost as long as Gensokyo has been, maybe even longer.  She is hateful, she is powerful, she is intelligent, and she is _very vengeful._ ”  She threw her arm out to the side.  “Do you remember when we were in town, and you commented on how the outer walls were primitive, with no wards?”

“Y-yes?”  She leaned further back.  Tewi leaned closer.

“ _That’s because of her._  They _used_ to have defensive wards on the outer walls, centuries ago.  Mima learned how to corrupt them and _turn them against the town_ .   _Hundreds_.  Were slaughtered.  And those that died?  Were raised as her undead army.”

Tewi leaned back and rest her forehead in her hand; she was closer to hyperventilating.  “She’s tenacious and relentless, but she’s also cunning and patient. Any time she was repelled, no one celebrated because they knew she’d be back, and whatever they did to stop her would _never work a second time._ ”  She looked up at the princess once more; Kaguya could see rage and terror fighting for control of the bunny.  “The only ones who could _ever_ stop her were the Hakurei Clan.  It was never permanent, and they _always_ suffered fatalities.  There’s only one of them left now, and _she’s not a fucking fighter!_ ”

“If… they were enemies, why does Rei-”

“I don’t know!”  The bunny exploded.  She stood and began to pace.  “I- I- I _don’t know._ Her attacks became less frequent over the centuries, and eventually they seemed to stop altogether.  The humans eventually forgot about her, even if the effects of her attacks still form some of their habits.  Even a number of the youkai forgot about her. But the rest of us?” She looked down at Kaguya and shook her head.  “We never forgot. We knew she could still be out there, and we _prayed_ to never to run into her.  I’ve seen her more than most.  I’ve seen her in action, Kaguya.  I’ve never fought her, but I’ve seen her raid the town, back when I used to visit the humans.”  She leaned closer. “The only reason I still _exist_ is because she _never aimed at me_.”

She began to pace once more.  “ _That’s_ why her style seemed so familiar… how did I not put that together?!”  Tewi muttered to herself before sighing. “The Hakurei kid, that’s right.  Too much at once, _dammit…_ ”

“... _well,_ then.”

Tewi stopped and stared at the princess, gauging how much she was taking seriously.

“...you realize you’re not safe either, right?”  She finally growled. Kaguya gave her a quizzical look.  “I know you think you exist outside of everything because of that Hourai Elixir, but I can promise you that lich is just as much of a genius as Eirin.   _Nothing_ ever stopped her twice.  I _witnessed_ her distorting and breaking anti-magic fields.   _That shouldn’t be fucking possible, but she still did it._  If you think she can’t find a way to to reverse or pervert that elixir?  You’re wrong. I don’t care how much ego Eirin has over her own skill, _everything has a breaking point._ ”  She took a step closer.  “Worse yet? She may not even need to.  She may just find a way to use you as a godsdamned fuel source for her spells.”

“I-I-”

Quick as a wink, Tewi grabbed Kaguya by the collar and pulled the princess to her face.  “You’re going to listen to me on this. They’re going to come back, and you’re going to fucking _apologize_ for this mess _you had no right to throw them in_.  Do you understand?”

“Yes, Inaba.”

“Good.”  She released the princess and shook her head.  “I don’t _need_ this shit…”

“So are there any other evil godlings I should know about?”  Kaguya asked as she straightened the collar of her kimono. “Others I shouldn’t cross out of fear of super-death?”

Tewi’s mouth opened and closed a few times; she slowly turned to the princess.

“You… you sent out _others_ on this.  Tonight.”

“Y...es.”

The bunny covered her face and screamed in rage.

“Well- I already know one group turned the invitation down.  Perhaps the others did as well.”

 

* * *

 

Mokou ripped the last piece of food off the spit and slowly chewed, staring at the stars.  “Not the best night,” she murmured to herself, “but it could’ve been worse, I suppose.” Reaching for the bucket of water to pour over the flames, the immortal paused as she heard someone approaching.

“Master?”  A voice called.  “Master, please don’t wander off because you smelled food- ah.” A silver-haired girl with two swords strapped to her back stepped into the clearing.  “...Good evening.” She gave a slight bow.

“Hey.”  Mokou gave her a nod in return.

“Sorry to bother you, but… have you seen a… buxom woman in a blue kimono with pink hair?”

“Nope; why are you out here anyway?  Did you get lost?”

The girl shook her head.  “No, Princess Houraisan sent us here for the Trial of Guts.”

Mokou felt her eye twitch.

“...of course.”  She muttered as she stood up.  “Of fucking… course!”

The immortal burst into flames.

 

* * *

 

While Reisen did not know why the princess had left Eientei earlier in an almost sneaky fashion, she was aware of trouble when she witnessed it.  Instead of investigating, the rabbit had decided to perform maintenance on her weapons, knowing few would bug her when she had a table full of field-stripped weapons.

Or so she had hoped.

“C-commander?”  A voice came through the other side of the door.  Reisen hung her head and sighed.

“...what is it?”

“You have a guest.”

The rabbit’s face contorted in insulted confusion.  Someone claiming to visit her was a new excuse she had never heard before.  She had assumed because it was an obvious lie. “You wanna run that past me one more time?”

“It’s the ah… the Hakurei Shrine Maiden, ser.”

Reisen sighed once more, staring at her lap.  Rolling her eyes, she picked up another piece and continued to clean.  “Arright, send her in.”

The door slid open, and the familiar smell of spring came with the sound of soft footfalls.

“Thank you for seeing me, Miss Reisen…” Reimu’s voice drifted off a bit.  “Is this a bad time?”

“I figure it’s probably a worse time for _you._  What are you doin’ up this late, kiddo?”  She glanced back at her; Reisen could see the exhaustion and depression on the girl’s face.  “...everything arright?”

She smiled wanly.  “Mm. Princess Kaguya sent Marisa and I out tonight for a… Trial of Guts.”

“Shit, I’m sorry.  You here for burn cream?  Mokou’s a real sonovabitch in combat.”

“N-no, we met Miss Keine on the way over, and she took us to see Miss Mokou, so she’d know we didn’t want to attack.  We talked to her for a bit.”

“Damn, girl!  Well done; no one else I’ve known that’s gotten tricked into that shit ever made it out without third degree burns.”  She motioned her closer as she turned back to her task at hand. “So you talked with her, eh?”

“Yes.”

“Did she tell ya what’s up between the two of ‘em?”

“Y-yes.”

“Ah, sorry kid.  I know you don’t stomach that shit well.  Would’ve warned ya if I had know she was gonna pull that with ya.”

“It- it’s okay, I know you didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Still.  Anyway, not that I don’t mind _you_ , but… what’re ya doin’ here?  As in: here in my room?”

“W-well, we reported in to Princess Kaguya, and… Tewi seemed frightened by something, and asked to talk to the princess about it.  She told us to wait for her, so I thought I’d see you.”

“Huh.  Any reason why?”

“W-well…”  She fidgeted.

“What is it, you wanna feel my ears again?”  The ex-soldier asked.

Blushing, the shrine maiden nodded.  Reisen let out a laugh, still cleaning the parts of her disassembled weapon.

“Yeah, arright, I guess your big sis _did_ pull you away pretty quickly last time.”  The lunarian glanced at her briefly. “Tewi’s ears are softer, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.”  She set down the part and picked up another. “You look old enough to know not to pull, so I’m guessing you don’t need me to stop.”

“Th-thank you!”

Reisen noticed that, despite the girl’s normal boundless levels of energy, Reimu’s touch was quite gentle.  The rabbit girl typically did not like others touching her ears, as most did so to treat her as a pet, or because they thought they were being cute.  However, much like the princess and her rival, the shrine maiden seemed to realize that touching another’s ears was not a right, but a privilege; one she sought to keep.

As the ex-military lunarian began to clean another piece, Reimu’s fingers came to the bend in her damaged ear.  Realizing it was far too late to say anything, she braced herself for the burst of pain which always followed when one attempted to undo the kink.

The pain did not come.

Reisen could hear a tremble in the shrine maiden’s breathing as she delicately touched the fused knots of flesh and nerves; Reimu seemed to comprehend what it was she was touching.  As she reached the second bend, Reisen felt each of the girl’s fingers touch next to one another: index, middle, ring, pinky, and finally the thumb, gently rubbing the fur. Once more her fingers touched; Reisen realized the girl was measuring the distance.  Though the shrine maiden’s hand was smaller, the rabbit girl figured she understood what had happened when the girl’s hand slowly pulled away. She could hear her stifle a cry.

Not knowing what to tell her tiny visitor, the problem resolved itself as Reimu slowly wrapped her arms around Reisen’s shoulders and hugged her from behind; she could feel the shrine maiden shake uncontrollably.

“I’m… I’m glad you’re here with us, Reisen.”  Her voice cracked, despite her effort to keep it from doing so.

Reisen reached up and gripped her hands; she found herself blinking back her tears.  “Thank you.” She whispered.

“I…”  The shrine maiden paused as she choked back a sob.  “I don’t know what I c-can do, but… if- if you ever want to t-talk about it… w-we’re here for you.”

“...thank you, Reimu.”

The only sound in the room was the sniffling of Reimu’s nose.

“...I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, but… thank you.”

 

* * *

 

“Here to assault me?”

The magician stood in the doorway leading out of the infirmary, her back against the frame.

“Thought about it.”  She answered truthfully.  “Figured it’d be my best chance to, honestly.  But after all the _shit_ your master put my sister through tonight, I’d prefer not to compound her problems.”

“...Trial of Guts?”

“Yyyep.”

Eirin sighed.  “So _that’s_ why she disappeared earlier today…”  She glanced back at Marisa once more. “Are the two of you alright?  Mokou’s flames tend to leave burns, even after the Spell Card Rules…”

“We’re fine,” The magician shrugged, “didn’t fight her.  Reimu talked to her and found out what was going on.”

“Ah.”  Looking at her concoction, Eirin swirled the mixture around before pausing.  “...your sister seems rather… sensitive. Is she alright?”

“No.”  Marisa shook her head.  “She’s not.”

The doctor sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.  “My apologies; I wish I could tell you what she was thinking by involving your sister in their _spat_ , but I’m afraid only she knows.  I will do my best to keep her from doing so again.”

“Hm.”  Marisa pushed her back off the frame and began to leave.

“Magister.”  The doctor called.  The magician took a step back and stared.  “How long has your family been associated with the Hakurei Clan?”

“Just this generation; my ma and I met her when she was about ten.”

“I see…”  She checked the clarity of her mixture and poured it into another waiting vessel before glancing back at Marisa.  “I don’t know how much you know of the Hakurei’s… history, but many of the ‘longer lived’ youkai remember her ancestors.  They were incredibly brutal fighters, and fierce zealots. That obviously does not describe your sister, of course, but be aware that there are others who will react in the way I did.”

“Hm.”

Eirin corked the container before the frothing mixture could pour out.  As the air inside was consumed, the fluids entered a chromatic flux. “When I saw her talking to Reisen, I honestly believed I had only a handful of seconds before my apprentice was going to have her heart forcefully removed from her chest.”

“Which is why you shot to kill.”

“...yes.”

Marisa sighed, glaring at the wall.  Having dealt with the Lunarian’s cutthroat high society for a large portion of her life, Eirin could see the bulk of the magician’s anger shifted to another.

“While you may not wish to admit it to me, I feel it is safe to say you would do the same, if someone you believed to be incredibly dangerous was within arms reach of your sister.”

“Perhaps… perhaps.”

“An olive branch, then.”  Grabbing one of her binders, the doctor flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.  Removing the page, she handed it to the magician. “This is an alchemical formula for a shield better suited for high-speed attacks.  It’s not the same kind of magic you use, but from what I’ve gathered, you have a penchant for… adapting things to suit your needs.”

“Huh.”  Marisa looked over the formula before rolling it up and placing it in her apron.  “I suppose it _would_ make Reimu happy if I stopped trying to punch you in the face.”

“While I’m aware it doesn’t register as one of your concerns, _I_ would appreciate it as well.”  The doc touched where her black eye had been.  “That puppeteer kicks like an enraged mule…”

“...I’ve seen her lose her temper before.”

“Ah- um, M-Magister Kirisame?”  The attendant called out.

“‘Marisa’.”  She corrected.  “For the love of whichever gods you pray to, ‘Marisa’.   _Please_.”

“S-sorry!  U-um, Master Tewi is ready to see you again.”

“Arright, arright…”  She turned to Eirin once more.  “See you later, Doc.”

 

* * *

 

“Is Reimu already inside?”

The escort shook her head.  “I don’t think so, Magister.”

“Then let’s wait here until she arrives; if I go in first, I’m likely to take out my aggression on Princess Sparklehair.”

Looking to the side, the magician saw her sister and the lavender-haired commander approaching the door.  With a glance, she recognized the signs of her sister having recently cried. Her gaze returning to Reisen, Marisa’s eyes narrowed.

Grabbing the edge of her sister’s apron, Reimu shook her head.  Sighing, Marisa bent down and reached into her bag, removing an ointment.  “Come on…” she whispered, applying it to her face, “you gotta be careful around idiots like this - they look for weakness.”

“Mm.”  The magician lifted her sister’s chin and looked at her face; all signs of her distress had been hidden.  Reisen leaned in next to her and looked before giving her nod of approval.

“You got this, kid.”  Reisen smiled wearily, giving her a pat on the shoulder.  “Just concentrate on the task at hand- eh, what am I saying, you’ve done this shit before.”

“Thank you, Miss Reisen.”

“Arright, you two ready?”  The two nodded at the commander.  Rapping her knuckles sharply against the door, Reisen grabbed the handle and allowed them entry, closing the door behind herself afterwards.

“Ah, welcome back.”  Kaguya smiled. “Inaba was kind enough to inform me I have been rather… rude to you, involving tonight’s activities.  I wished to explain my mot-”

Baring her teeth, Tewi leaned toward the princess and whispered a single word, the tendons in her neck flexing.  Kaguya paused and blinked.

“Ah.”  She cleared her throat and bowed.  “I apologize for doing as such.”

“...apology accepted, your highness.”  The shrine maiden gave a soft bow in return.  Marisa had hoped her sister would have tightened the thumbscrews before accepting, even though she was well aware it would have never been in the shrine maiden’s nature to do so.

“I… realize it is quite late for you, so I shall do my best to keep this brief.  I assume Mokou told you something about her father and I?”

Reimu nodded.

“The truth is, I do not even remember the man, and I don’t mean to say he was forgettable.  During that time before we went into hiding, I had a lot of suitors, ‘though I was interested in none.  To keep things simple, I offered five impossible tasks which they would have to achieve in order to win my hand in marriage.  The tasks were to fetch unique things, such as the jeweled branch from the island of Mount Hourai.”

The magician blinked.  “...that’s one of your spell cards.”

The princess smiled.  “That it is. Along with the other four.  Even before the spell card rules came into effect, I used their powers.  As I said, I was interested in no one, and I did not feel that I owed everyone my time to tell them as such.  And it was effective: nearly all who started out to find the objects found the the task to be too difficult, or realized it would be too costly, and simply gave up.  They went off to woo someone else, and I was left in peace.”

Kaguya stared at the mat between them for a moment, gathering her thoughts.  “It seems, however, Lord Fujiwara fell into the small group it did not deter.  As I said, I didn’t know the man, but it seems he became obsessed with finding the treasures to the point where it drove his clan to ruin.  I can only imagine how Mokou felt, seeing such a thing occur from the inside.

“While planning her vengeance, Mokou somehow… got ahold of the Elixir of Hourai.”  She scratched her chin as she thought back to the event. “I believe we had sent a vial of it to the Emperor at the time, but I believe he rejected it.  At any rate, after consuming it, she hunted me down and set to kill me, only to find _I_ was the same as her.”

“And she’s chased me ever since.  While she hates me with all of her heart, I… honestly hold no strong negative emotion towards her.”  The princess shrugged her shoulders. “While inconvenient, the constant fights do keep things interesting, and… it’s forced me to stay fit to a degree, so there has been-”

A sharp elbow to the ribs from the bunny interrupted Kaguya; she noticed the shrine maiden leaning back, disturbed.  “...ah. Apologies. At any rate, most I have sent to her for the Trail were troublemakers who had stumbled upon us, as it… was an effective way to take care of people interested in only causing strife, and if they survived, they were not likely to try to return here.”

She motioned with an oversized sleeve.  “But you two… you were a bit different. I was hoping you might have a chance to open a dialog with her, as… well, you are quite the diplomat for someone so young.  I thought if you could do that, her and I could start talking instead of killing one another. However… it did not seem to go as such.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you t-”

Reimu set a hand on top of Marisa’s, silencing her.

“If that is truly what you wished of this outcome, you should have said so when you offered the Trial, your highness.”  The shrine maiden stared at her seriously. “Why didn’t you?”

Kaguya stared at the floor for a moment.

“‘That’s because I fucked up, Defender Hakurei.’  Say it.” Tewi breathed.  The magician could see Reisen glance away, covering her smile.

“I… was feeling playfully confrontational when I talked to your sister.”  Kaguya finally stated, looking chagrined. “Once I realized what… I had done, I did not worry too much because of the spell card rules.  I knew there was little chance you would truly be in danger now because of it.”

Before she could respond, the sisters noticed Kaguya biting her lip and glancing to the side.  Reimu tilted her head slightly.

“...and so I decided to make a game of it, and sent out letters of invitation to a few others I heard were prowling the forest during last month’s event.”

The bunny next to her facepalmed before letting her head hang.  Reimu sighed.

“Your highness, I-” She rubbed her forehead and sighed once more.  Marisa could see her sister was running on fumes. “I _was_ able to talk to Lady Fujiwara, but it is going to take some time before I can assist you in what you were hoping for.”

Everyone in the room stared at Reimu.

“You had a peaceful meeting with Mokou?”  Kaguya asked, surprised.

“You’re going to help this chucklehead?”  Marisa asked, surprised.

“She is… very angry with you, your highness,” the shrine maiden continued on, not fully hearing the questions, “and in all the time since she acquired immortality, it was plain for me to see that anger has not faded.  A step of good faith may be to stop sending people to attack her, ‘though it will be a long time before she believes you on that, seeing as how you just did so tonight.”

“I see… well, I-”

“Yeah, no.”  The magician interrupted, helping her sister stand.  “Nope, nope, nope. Usin’ my ‘big sister veto’ here. It’s now officially ‘too late’, and I’m not havin’ anyone take advantage of my sis while she is deliriously tired.”

“Mm, fair enough.”  The rest in the room stood with Kaguya.  “I would appreciate it if we could continue this talk later.”

“Yeah, we’ll see what Ma h- what Master thinks.  Take care, yer highness, try not to trick anyone else into being your proxy, eh?”

The earth and lunar rabbits walked the two to the entrance of the mansion.  Reisen quietly made small talk with Reimu while Tewi’s movement was tense to the point of appearing stilted.

The magician rather liked Tewi.  While the bunny was a well known trickster to the youkai, she was a rather staunch ally of humans, and she had help set up a discount for the two for medicinal supplies from Eientei.  Not only that, but she was able to give as much snark as she could take, making her fun to talk to.

“...everything arright, Tewi?”  She finally asked. The bunny glanced her way.

“Is… your master going to be upset at us for this?”  She asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

“Eh, she might be a bit pissed at Kaguya, but she’s not going to take it out on you guys.”  Marisa shrugged. “Is that what you’ve been worried about?”

“It’s… it’s a concern.”

“Well, for what it’s worth… the only time you’re really going to have to worry about her snapping… is if it makes _me_ snap.”

The bunny grinned nervously.  “N-no offense Marisa, but… you snap at a lot of shit.”

“Hah!  Fair, fair…”  She ruffled Tewi’s hair as Reisen opened the front door.  “If it helps then, her anger tends to be very… precise, with little collateral damage, if you get my meaning.”

“That… I suppose it is a step up, yes.”

“At any rate… you two take care and-” Reisen frowned at something behind them.  “Er, move to the side, please…”

Stepping away and looking, the two could see Mokou landing with Youmu in tow.  Behind, Yuyuko drifted along with her standard tired smile.

“Miss Youmu, Miss Mokou!”  The shrine maiden came to her senses, seeing her injured friend.  “Is everything alright?”

“Ah, Reimu.”  The gardener winced as she was lowered to the ground.  “I’ll- be fine.”

“What happened?”  Marisa asked, looking over the three.  Mokou scratched the back of her head, blushing slightly.

“Well…”

 

* * *

 

Unable to hold back the fiery onslaught, Youmu slammed against the ground as Mokou activated another spell card.  The swordswoman pushed herself up with her blades as the immortal flew down towards her.

“STOP.”  A voice demanded.  Suddenly standing in front of her downed opponent, Mokou could see a buxom woman in a blue kimono, holding a blade out to keep the immortal at bay.  She glared at the interloper.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but-”  She paused as she squinted at what the woman held.  “Is… is that a stick of dango?!”

Stoically bringing the skewer to her mouth, the woman ate an entire ball of dango in one bite.  “Give me just a second and it won’t be.” She stated seriously.

“Where…?”

“Thanks for your purchase, Lady Saigyouji!”  Mystia waved. The night sparrow youkai pushed her mobile food stall along the path, disappearing into the night.  Looking back at the woman, another dango was gone.

The flame wings flickered and faded away as Mokou’s shoulders slumped.  She landed and looked at the two once more.

“Look, just… stop listening to the looney princess, alright?”  Mokou instructed as Youmu sheathed her swords, feeling combat was at an end.  “Go see the doctor there and she’ll take care of your wounds.”

“Mm, about that…” The woman started before eating the last dango on the sick.  “I’m not quite certain where it is.

Mokou put her face in her hands and groaned.

 

* * *

 

“...and since Youmu couldn’t walk too well, I carried her here.”  Mokou finished.

“Doctor Eirin should be able to handle this; thanks Fujiwara.”  Reisen put an arm under the girl for support and gave the immortal a nod.

“No prob, Rei.”

“Don’t worry Miss Youmu,” Reimu gave her friend a tired smile, “Miss Reisen and Doctor Yagokoro are both very skilled and very nice-”

Marisa snorted.

“-you’ll be fine in no time!”

“Thank you, Reimu.”

“At any rate,” The rabbit turned back towards the entrance, “you kids have a good night and say hello to ‘Auntie’ Mima for us, eh?”

Tewi’s body went rigid.  She slowly turned to her companion.

“Y-y-you… fucking… _knew?!_ ”

“Yyyes,” Reisen arched an eyebrow, “she told me the first night.  Didn’t I-?”

“ ** _NO!_** ”

“Oh.”  She shrugged as she moved inside.  “Well, I _was_ high enough to yell at the Princess right in front of the Doc, so…”

Tewi’s grumblings quieted as the door closed, leaving the four alone.  Reimu bowed to the two.

“Eientei does fast work, so it shouldn’t be long before Youmu’s released.  The shrine maiden informed the spectral princess as she sat on the broom behind Marisa.  “It should give you enough time for a stroll, if you’d like.”

“Oh, that sounds like a _wonderful_ idea!”  Yuyuko smiled before linking an arm with the immortal.  “Shall we?”

“I… don’t see why not.”  Mokou smiled and gave the two a nod.  “Take care, kids.”

 

* * *

 

“They’re late.”  Hourai growled as she paced back and forth on the livingroom table.  Mima rolled her eyes.

“Don’t get your bloomers in a bunch.  At any rate…” She poured herself another cup of tea before sliding the saucer with the set across the table to her other guest.  “I appreciate you giving me a heads up on what happened.”

Keine refilled her own cup before taking a sip.  “I felt it was for the best. With the princess and her entourage reentering society, you should be aware of her tricks.”

“Yeah, their first bout here never caught my attention, so they fell under my radar.”  The lich nodded. “Anything else?”

The hakutaku fell silent as she gathered her thoughts.  “While… I mean no disrespect to your children, but-”

Mima snorted.

“-given how easy it is for others to take advantage of young Hakurei, and the dangers involved in this-”

“-the fuck are those three…!”  Hourai chomped down on the edge of the rice cracker she had broken off.

“-it might be for the best if she stopped involving herself in these incidents.”

The room fell silent as Mima sipped her tea.  Setting her cup down, she stared at the hakutaku, resting her cheek on her fist.  Keine broke her gaze and sighed.

“I realize I’m not their caretaker, but-”

“Do you remember,” Mima interrupted, “how long it took for Spring to arrive this year?”

“I- yes?”  She arched an eyebrow.  “We came very close to having major starvation issues from it.”

“While resolving that, someone… slit Reimu’s throat.”

Keine’s eyes went wide.

“I did a bit of… reverse divination on the matter the next day, seeing how badly it _could_ have gone.  She was handful of heartbeats away from death… in… the Netherworld.  The only thing that saved her was divine intervention. That… that’s not something you can really count on when you live in a barren shrine.”

The lights of the shrine flickered as Mima thought back to the incident.

“The next day, I went to her, and asked if she’d be willing to stop going out to resolve incidents.”

“...what did she say?”

Mima smiled softly at Keine.  “...enough to let me know she’s doing the right thing, and she’s very aware of the danger.”

“But still-”

“Keine.  I have over a dozen contingencies that I’m ready to implement if she ever says ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’  I don’t like sending her out there. I don’t like sending my daughter out there. It’s extremely dangerous work… and I know danger.”

The spectral mentor paused and stretched.  Hourai continued to tap her foot impatiently, staring at the door.

“But the fact of the matter is… Gensokyo’s fucked.  It’s fucked _hard_ , Keine and I-”

The hakutaku’s eyebrows drew together in a V as she gave the Teacher Stare.  “Do _not_ finish that sentence like I know you’re about to.”

Mima snickered.  “But you’re probably a little more aware of how things have been for the last generation or two than I am.  I’m working with Yukari and Alice on trying to fix this now, but until we come up with something feasible, we’re going to need more help… and Reimu’s the only one I know who can actually recruit people in the way we need.

“Every time she convinces another knucklehead to stop fuckin’ around, we get one more specialist that gets us closer to safety.  If she wished to stop, I’d support her. If she wished to help without heading out to fight, I have over half a dozen plans that would allow her to do just that.  But the decision has to be hers. It’s her position, it’s her call. If I force her out of it, she won’t be able to work as well, and it _will_ hurt her.”

“I suppose you’re right.”  Keine sighed. “I just wish there was a better way to help them is all.”

“Shit, so do I, kid!”  The lich cackled. “But uh, there _is_ one thing I know you could do that’d help the both of them.”

“Oh?”

“If you stopped giving my _daughter_ so much shit…” Mima grinned, “I know it’d help Reimu a lot.”

Keine rubbed her forehead and sighed.

“I should have seen that coming from you.”

“Ya really should have!  Seriously though-” She paused and glanced towards the door. “-ah, there ya go, Hourai.”

The doll snapped to attention as the door slid open.  Both looking tired beyond belief, Reimu and Marisa entered.

“Ma, we’re ho- oh, hey cowgirl.”

Hourai flew over to Reimu and looked the girl over anxiously.  Shanghai gave the shrine maiden a pat on the shoulder as she moved next to her sister.  Finding the girl to be undamaged, Hourai let out a sigh of relief before she straightened up.

“You kept her out too late!”  The eldest doll shook a finger at her sister.  “Look how tired she is now!”

“There were a lot of meetings!”  Shanghai shrugged. “She needed to attend them!  What was I supposed to do, let Marisa take her place?”

“No, but-!”

“I’m glad you two are safe.”  The hakutaku smiled as she stood.  “I’ll take my leave now; have a good night.”

“G’night; thanks for the company.”

“Good night Miss Keine,” Reimu yawned.  “Thank you for your help this evening.”

“Take care, yo.”

With the horned defender gone, the two girls turned to Mima.  The spirit yawned as she pushed herself up from the table.

“You don’t seem to be hurt, or in a state of dread or panic, so… just one-line it for me, if you could.”

“Lunarian bullshit drama.” Marisa muttered as she hung her hat.

“Good enough…” she glanced at the shrine maiden, “wow you _must_ be tired if you’re not even going to correct your sister.”

A tired smile appeared briefly on Reimu’s face.  “It’s… it’s sad, that’s all. And… someone really hurt Reisen.”

“Someone… at Eientei?”  Mima asked. Though she had seen the rabbit Reimu knew from afar, the specter had yet to actually talk to her.  The shrine maiden shook her head.

“From… wherever she used to live, I think.”

“Okay, well,” she pat her niece on the shoulders as she guided the two to the bathroom, “at least she’s here now then, right?  We can talk about that more in the morning if you wish. But for now…”

“Let’s get some sleep.” The magician finished.

 

The lights in the Hakurei Shrine went out as the sun began to rise.  Once more, peace and tranquility settled in for another day in Gensokyo.


End file.
